The Doctor From My Bedtime Stories
by bakstar1996
Summary: Instead of stories like Peter Pan or Cinderella, Stephanie Pope was told stories about a man called the Doctor. She was told about his journeys through time and space, and how he saved planets and civilizations almost single-handedly. Now, at 19 years old, all she wants is to find him and go on those adventures herself. This is the story of when she got that chance.
1. I Noticed

All of my life, I heard stories about this man called the Doctor. He's this incredible creature: a Time Lord from a planet far away and long since gone. He goes around in his TARDIS- sometimes with friends, sometimes without (but mostly with) - saving planets and civilizations from monsters and demons. No one knows it, but he is the reason we are safe in this universe that we barely know anything about!

Night time before bed used to be filled with tales of the Doctor and how he defeated all sorts of things like Slitheen and Daleks and Sontarans. But, what enraptured me every time was that he never once used violence. He could've been facing the most dangerous threat that wouldn't even flinch if they killed an entire planet, but the Doctor never once let himself fall to their level. He would just use his TARDIS, sonic screwdriver, some help from friends and his mind. That's it. And with just that, he would save the world and that world would go on spinning, most of the people there not even aware that something happened.

But, that's how he likes it: being invisible. People don't find him and that's ok because the moment it all goes to his head is the moment it all falls apart. But my dad noticed, and he told me the stories. I noticed. I know. And I want to be there, right beside him. One day I will be. Until then, I'll be waiting in the one place he will always return to.


	2. It's You!

With the beat of my favorite song playing in my ears, I walked through Cardiff Bay, passing several groups of tourists taking pictures of the impressive architecture. Ronald Dahl Pass was beautiful in the early afternoon, the sun shining brightly onto the giant gold building and reflecting off the eighteen light posts in the center of the pass. I always found the water tower the most intriguing; maybe it was because I knew it wasn't actually a water tower at all, but a transmitter for the rift.

I was halfway through the square, only a minute away from reaching the invisible lift when a very peculiar sound came through my ears. I pulled my headphones out to get a better listen, and the only way I could make sense of it in my head was explaining to myself that it sounded like mechanical wheezing. I spun around in my place, trying to find the source, but nothing unusual was spotted.

"Why do I know that noise?" I thought.

Sighing, I turned back toward the lift when I saw it, standing there proudly, tourists walking right next to it and not even noticing it was there. A bright blue police box was suddenly a few feet away from me.

_Oh my God. It's him. No way. It's him? I can't…no!_

I walked toward it slowly, almost thinking that if I went any faster it would disappear. I finally came up to it, standing in front of the doors. I took a breath in and it smelt like…I don't know, but it was good. I looked up at the fogged windows, desperately wanting to see inside.

"You know what Dad always says," I mumbled to myself, "if you want something, you have to go get it yourself."

I took a long, deep breath, raised my hand and knocked three times. I waited for a minute, standing completely still; the only thought that kept looping through my head was 'Keep breathing, keep breathing…'.

Then, I could hear feet clattering down toward the door, followed by a voice.

"Who the hell is knocking?" he yelled. "No one knocks!"

The footsteps stopped and the door swung open with a whine. Inside stood a tall, very skinny man wearing a slim brown suit paired with a dark blue shirt, tie to match and cream colored converse. His hair was wild- spiked forward, little pieces sticking up in every which way they could. He looked at me with his large brown eyes, taking me in from head to toe and then stared at me straight in the eye, an eyebrow cocked high, and placed one hand inside a pant pocket.

"Hello," he said, warily, the question of 'Why the hell did this young girl knock on the TARDIS door?' still spinning in his head.

I wanted to answer; all I wanted to say was hello back or smile or do something. But, I just stood there, dumbstruck.

"You knocked," he said, leaning his torso forward. "Are you ok?"

I let out a noise resembling the sound of a dying cat before finally being able to make words.

"Me? Oh, yeah, I'm fantastic."

Once I spoke, I suddenly came to life. A smile that was too large for my face came out of nowhere and my cheeks ached, trying to push themselves too far. My hands began to sweat and I couldn't stop staring at him with bugged-out eyes.

"You are…you've gotta' be…holy crap! It's you! You're him! I mean, I knew it was because who else has a police box and who else can make it appear out of nowhere; oh, I knew if I hung out here long enough, I might see you because this is where you refuel, isn't it?"

X.X.X

I leaned against the TARDIS door, trying to make sense of this girl standing in front of me, babbling in her American accent as if she had just ran into her favorite teeny-bopper singer.

She looked to be nineteen at the oldest with light brown hair that reached a little further than her shoulders and dark chocolate eyes.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to meet you; this is incredible! I always dreamt of it, and I knew being here would help the chances, but I didn't actually think it would happen! I mean, the TARDIS landed just a few feet away from me, and…"

"Whoa, whoa, can I stop you for a second?"

The girl stopped midsentence and looked toward the ground, her cheeks growing red.

"Sorry, rambling, aren't I?"

"How do you know who I am? And who are you?"

"Oh, right, I should probably explain that considering almost every other human being doesn't even know you exist. My name is Stephanie, Stephanie Pope. And the reason I know about you is because of my dad."

"Your dad?"

"Yeah, he's met you before."

My too large brain began to spin._ Her dad had met me before. She's American. In Cardiff. Could she be…? No way._

"And he told me all about you and your adventures. Instead of telling me normal kid's stories like Peter Pan or Snow White, he told me stories about you."

"So…you've been waiting here in Cardiff for the off chance that you would see me refueling?"

"Oh, no, I'm not that weird; I do actually have a life."

I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"The real reason I'm here is because my dad works for Torchwood. The fact that you come here is just an added bonus."

"He works for Torchwood?"

_No way, no way could Jack be a father….Well, he could, but…he wouldn't get married! But, then again, she could always be his love child…_

"Yeah, you want to come say hi to everyone? I'm sure they'd love to see you."

I looked back into my TARDIS and then back at her. Her smile had shrunken to a normal size and she seemed to be able to look at me without having a minor heart attack anymore. Or, she was just good at composing herself.

"Um…well, I was just going to stay for a quick refueling, but yeah, why not?"

She smiled wider again. "Great!"

She backed away from the door to give me room to step out, and I did so, closing and locking the door behind me. Once I placed the key back in my pocket, we began our walk to Torchwood Three.

"I do have to warn you, though, a lot has changed since the last time you saw Torchwood. A lot."

"I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle."

"Ianto Jones- do you remember him?"

_Ianto Jones, Ianto Jones…._

"Oh yeah, Ianto Jones; good fellow."

"He's dead."

I looked down toward her and she was looking up at me.

"Something really horrible happened while you were gone. Torchwood handled it and everything's safe now thanks to them, but we lost a lot."

"What about, oh what was her name, Gwen Cooper? What about Gwen Cooper?"

"She's still there, just as perky as ever. My dad's fairly new to the team; March will be a year."

_Not Jack's kid. Thank Rassilon. _

"Then we have John- he's pretty cool; he's the techy of the group, and then there's you're good old friend Martha Jones."

Both eyebrows rose high onto my forehead. "Martha? Really?"

"Yeah, after what happened, she decided back home in England with her family is where she belongs."

I nodded and smiled. "That sounds like her."

She nodded as well. "Yeah, she's very good."

"Is Jack still there? Jack Harkness?"

"Oh yeah, he left for a long time, travelling, trying to escape what happened; Gwen thinks that was his way of grieving. But, he came back eventually. Like he always does."

I smiled again as we continued walking, now coming to a ramp that led toward a small dock. A small, run down, blue shack was ahead of us.

"So," said Stephanie, looking up at me once more, "are you alone? I mean, there's no one in the TARDIS, like, sleeping or something? You're travelling alone?"

I looked out at the bay. "Me? Yeah. It's better that way."

"What happened to Donna? She was the last person travelling with you, right? Jack told me about her."

"Yeah, she was…um…she's good, happy. She's safe."

I looked toward the ground now and Stephanie's gaze left me as she nodded and looked ahead, knowing that I wasn't going to say anymore.

"So, here we are."

I looked up from the ground, and I hadn't realized that we walked across the dock and now stood in front of the door.

"I've never actually been in the Torchwood base," I said, placing my hands in my pockets, "but if this is it, that'll be very anti-climactic."

She laughed. "No, this is just the way in. And we don't call it the base. It's the Hub."

The door squawked open and brought us into a moldy smelling tourist information center, pamphlets and folding maps stacked in rotating displays and on the counter top. Stephanie ran around the counter and hit a button on the underside, causing the wall to my right to shake. A hidden door opened up, leading into a barren concrete walkway.

"This way," smiled Stephanie as she walked inside.

Smiling as well, I began to follow her.


	3. Welcome to Torchwood

**Hello readers! I just wanted to make something clear: this takes place after The Planet of the Dead but before The Water of Mars. Hope you enjoy reading; reviews are greatly appreciated! **

Stephanie led the way down the long, stone walled, dimly lit passageway with me following close behind. She continued to look back at me every thirty seconds or so as if she was making sure I hadn't run away. I ignored it, acting as if I hadn't been noticing, until I figured out that every time she looked back, her smile grew wider and wider. Finally, when she looked back once more, I looked at her with a "confused" brow and turned around myself.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, pretending to scan the empty hallway behind me. "Why do you keep looking back?"

"Oh, no, there's nothing, I'm not," she stumbled on her words, "I was just…making sure the door closed behind us. I couldn't really see."

I nodded slowly and smiled. "Right."

_What is with her? I **really** hope she doesn't fancy me..._

She spun her face away from mine quickly, probably trying to hide the fact that her cheeks had just gone a very bright shade of red. After a minute of silence and no more turning back, we came to a heavy, gray door with a thin, rectangular window in the middle of it.

"Is this the way in?" I asked.

"It's the way to the way in."

She smiled at me as the door slid open. Stephanie walked in first, followed by me and then the door closed behind us. Then, I felt the floor shake beneath us as we began to move down into the underground of Cardiff.

"Oh, it's a lift!" I shouted, a smile on my face. "Very clever."

She smiled upwards at me as we descended four floors before the lift finally stopped and a door to the right opened.

"This," said Stephanie, turning her head to look at me, "is the way in."

I stepped out of the elevator and found myself a few steps behind a giant, gear shaped open door which was black and green from where copper had oxidized and had non-oxidized copper colored teeth. Following Stephanie once again, I walked down the two stairs and over the threshold.

In front of me was a small staircase- maybe five or six steps with a chain handrail held up by three yellow posts- that led you to a raised area where several computer monitors and keyboards sat on a desk. Behind the computers was a white tiled wall, and written in black tile squares in large capital letters was the word Torchwood, encircled by a rectangle with rounded corners. Underneath that was a long couch, plaid patterned, very homey and very out of place.

Metal bars like the ones on zoo enclosures were to my left and right and as I continued walking forward, a yellow police light attached to the wall began to flash brightly as the gear door spun closed and two barred doors closed just behind me, creating a cage. To my right, thick yellow bars blocked you from walking into a shallow flow of water that I believed came from the large water tower in the center of the Hub, which, in actuality, was the base of the water tower several feet above us in Ronald Dahl Pass (although, strictly speaking, it's a rift transmitter).

Across the room, on the other side of the water, was a work table, cluttered with all sorts of metal scraps and tools. I looked up to find there was a second floor, seemingly made up from one large balcony, with a grated floor and yellow guardrails. A young chap was standing up there with his back to us; I'm not really sure he realized we had walked in, the headphones in his ears probably blocked out the large alarm that accompanied the flashing light when the door closed. Next to him was another man, tall with blond hair, working diligently with a piece of alien tech. At the end of the grated balcony floor was a brightly lit room that I could see through the windows that doubled as walls: it was a conference room, complete with a long table and several padded chairs. Two women were inside- one I immediately recognized as Martha in her black leather jacket and the other was Gwen Cooper who I had only met once via video chat using the Subwave Network.

We walked up the small staircase and onto the raised platform, and I found there was still more. To my left now was a room that could be reached by walking down several stairs; it was very bright and very white: it was a medical area. A metal medical table stood in the middle, surrounded by metal trays cluttered with various medical tools. On the low walls, I saw numbered doors with shiny, silver handles. I looked up again and noticed that, in much smaller text, more black tile squares read 'Cold Storage 1-6'. I looked back at the doors and realized they were some of the coolers for whatever dead bodies Torchwood held. I felt my own body shiver at the thought.

_Impressive. I can't believe Jack did all this…_

Just as I thought it, I saw him, Jack Harkness, sitting at a desk in what I presumed was his office several feet ahead us. His head was bent down, him deeply concentrated on whatever he was writing. My smile grew larger as I looked at him, my pride swelling.

"Hey, guys!" Stephanie shouted, turning her head left and right so everyone would hear. "Come see who I found wandering around."

Jack looked up first and did a double take before smiling widely and standing from his chair, making it roll back and hit the wall. Gwen and Martha came to the window of the conference room and looked down at me. I smiled and gave them a wave before they came rushing toward the stairs.

"I can't believe it!" Jack came over to us, his arms outstretched. "What are you doing here?"

"Captain Jack, good to see you."

I smiled as widely as he was and embraced him in a hug, Stephanie stepping aside to let him through.

"Really, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I just came to refuel and not even a minute after I opened the fuel tank, this one here knocked on the door." I let go of Jack and pointed over at Stephanie. "She invited me for a visit and I decided to stop by." I placed my hands in my pockets and took another look around. "You know, I've never seen this place in person before and I have to say, it's quite impressive."

"Thank you very much."

"Doctor!"

I flipped around, my coat wrapping itself around my legs, just in time to catch Martha as she threw herself at me, taking me into a hug.

"How are you?"

"Brilliant! Oh, and Gwen Cooper! It's a pleasure to meet you in person."

Martha released me and I shook Gwen's hand. Then, the man with the headphones came over behind Jack and I shook his hand as well.

"John Waters, nice to meet you. I mean, really nice to meet you; I've heard a lot."

All I could do was smile before I turned to Stephanie, leaning down to her ear level.

"So, which one is your dad?" I asked in a low volume. "You don't look like him."  
I gestured my chin over to John.

She chuckled. "He's coming up right now." She looked toward the small staircase. "Dad, come on!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

_Wait a minute. I know that voice. _

The man with the blond hair emerged and I immediately knew who it was. He looked at me with the same excited, pale blue eyes that he had when he was younger and his blond hair still reached to his forehead. He did look older though: his forehead had a few more lines and his eyes did look a bit more tired. It was Elton Pope.

"It's you!" I turned and pointed at him.

He smiled. "It's you! You look exactly the same! Still!" He walked over the rest of the way and gave me a firm handshake. "How do you do that?"

"It's complicated," I smiled.

"Have you seen Rose lately?"

I crossed my arms, suddenly feeling a tight heaviness in my chest.

"Oh, it's been a very long time since the last time we met."

"Maybe not for you. It could be five minutes."

"Yes, well, it's been a long time for me too. Rose is, uh, not with me…anymore. She's settled down."

"Oh. Well, good for her."

X.X.X

Immediately sensing the impending awkwardness, I slipped past the Doctor and wrapped my arms around my dad's waist.

"See, I told you," I said, "he's met you before."

"Yeah, he has…" The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, if he's your dad, why do you have an American accent? You didn't let Jack babysit when she was little did you?"

Jack laughed from behind the Doctor's back. "Hey, kids love me!"

"No, Jack didn't know her till last year. My wife is American; we met in New York where I worked in UNIT's Manhattan base. We lived there until I came to work here."

I looked toward the ground, hoping they'd change the subject away from my mother quickly.

He nodded. "Ah. Very nice. And you, Martha Jones, you moved back from the States as well."

_Yay, subject change. _

He turned to face her and she smiled, placing a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I figured it was time to come home, be near my family."

The Doctor smiled as well.

"Steph, how did you find him?"

Dad looked down at me and I released my hold on him, now standing between him and the Doctor, and told him what had happened.

"That's some coincidence," said Dad, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I know, right? Like it was meant to happen."

After everyone had gotten over the initial 'Oh my God, it's the Doctor' feelings that had erupted inside them, we all sat down and began to chat, Jack and Martha asking questions only previous companions could have asked.

Twenty minutes passed and we were all having a good time before Jack decided that everyone had to return to work seeing that they were nowhere near solving the case they were currently working on.

"I know, I know," he said, "you all want to hang out, but we need to figure this thing out before another person disappears."

"People have been disappearing?"

The Doctor stood from next to me on the couch and walked over to Jack who had moved back to his desk.

"Yeah, it doesn't seem to be alien related, but the police can't find any normal reason for the disappearances. They asked for our help, but we haven't found anything. It seems like it's just a very clever criminal."

"Well, I'm not doing anything. Maybe, I can help?"

Jack looked up at and stared at the Doctor with his mouth gaping open.

"You want to help? This case is nothing! You should come during the holidays; then you see some exciting stuff."

"Mystery disappearances because of a mystery alien? I can't let you have all the fun."

Jack laughed in amazement and joy. "Ok! Someone will just have to tell you what we have so far…"

I raised my hand up so high and so fast I thought my arm was going to fly out of its socket.

"I'll tell him!"


	4. What's Your Theory?

"Steph, you need to relax."

Jack spoke to me over his shoulder as he looked for his copy of the case file.

"The Doctor can be very intimidating; his legacy even more so. But when it comes down to it, he's just a guy. He's the last of his kind and the savior of more worlds than you even know are out there, but still, just a guy."

"Oh, that makes me feel better."

He smiled over his shoulder as he pulled a manila folder out of the rusted filing cabinet.

"The Doctor likes good people. Just don't do anything stupid and you'll stay in his good graces."

I sighed. _Just don't be your normally spastic self._

"I think I can do that."

Chuckling, he turned and reached over his desk, handing me the folder.

"You are a brilliant, good natured, beautiful girl. Now, go show him how brilliant you are by filling him in. If you bat your eyelashes a little bit, maybe he'll notice how beautiful you are too."

I took the file, smiled (my cheeks turning pink) and turned away, heading for the stairs to the conference room.

"Don't forget anything!" he called.

"Give me some credit, Captain! I'm brilliant, remember?"

His laughter reached all the way upstairs as I climbed the rest of the staircase and went down the walkway- past Dad and John who had returned to whatever they were doing when we walked in- to the very official looking conference room, complete with a granite top table and gray cushioned chairs.

The Doctor wasn't sitting, however. He was standing, his arm leaning against the window he was looking out of, staring down into the Hub.

But, as I got closer, I could tell that, yes, he as looking at the activities down below, but he wasn't seeing them. His eyes were glazed over, his mind occupied with thoughts (and by the trying-really-hard-not-to-cry look on his face, they didn't seem like happy ones).

I walked over to the table, placed the file down and then turned in his direction.

"So, I got the file…"

The sound of my voice shook the Doctor out of his trance, and he flipped around quickly with a small smile on his face.

"Right. File. Yes."

"But before we get into all of that, I wanted to apologize for what my dad said earlier."

His eyebrows rose high onto his forehead- _He knows I've figured him out_- but then they furrowed low toward his nose. _Now he's trying to cover it up._

"What did he say?"

"He mentioned Rose. He doesn't know what happened after Jack left you once you beat the Daleks. All he heard was that Rose was with you that day."

_"She was there- Rose. I've never seen the Doctor happier; he was back with the girl he loves,_" I heard Jack speaking in my head, the memory from four months before playing like a movie. _"But now she's trapped in a parallel universe. Forever this time. He can never see her again."_

"But you know everything."

The Doctor walked toward me, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I just asked Jack. A couple months after the Daleks, he disappeared for a week. When he came back, he was strutting about, happier than ever. I figured out that he had found you again, so I asked how you were."

"How did you know he found me?"

_Because I'd act like an over confident just-got-laid-for-the-first-time kind of person too if I helped save a world._

"I could just tell."

"Ok, but why would you ask about me?"

"I had heard so much about you and…"

_You've been my best friend for my whole life (in my imagination, I know), and I care about you; I want you to be happy! Plus, I wanted to be up to date so maybe, if we ever met, you would like me because I wouldn't say anything stupid (like mention the girl you love who happened to get trapped in an alternate world with a duplicate you) and take me on trips through space and time!_

"…I was just curious."

He nodded slowly, obviously trying to work out what I wasn't telling him.

"So," he sat down and I followed suit, "do you work here at Torchwood? Because, if you do, you better keep an eye on the ol' Captain down there."

I couldn't help but throw my head back and laugh.

"Believe me, my dad doesn't leave the room when Jack is around. And no, I don't work here; not really."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm too young to actually work here, so I'm interning for the summer."

"Ah. So, do you go to university in the fall?"

"Yeah, I went to New York University for freshman year, and I start at Cambridge once summer is over."

"Very nice," he smiled. "Brilliant."

I smiled as well, color rushing to my cheeks.

_Oh my God, he's impressed. Keep your cool, you're cool…_

"So the case…"

"Right, yes, people disappearing. How many are gone?"

"Four. All lived around the center of Cardiff, but there's no other connection besides that. Different age ranges, places of work and genders. None of their family members or friends were with them when they disappeared…"

"Well, if they were this wouldn't be much of a case…Or we'd have a much bigger one."

I gave him a sly look and went on.

"No one has received ransom notes either, so the reason they were kidnapped is still unknown."

"How long have they been missing?"

"They were all kidnapped in the last five days."

He nodded and let me continue.

"The only thing we really know is that they all disappeared after five in the evening on the days they went missing."

"Why is that?"

"All four people clocked out of work at five and were never seen again after they left the building."

"And you said none of them worked in the same place."

"Right."

"Hmph."

He leaned back in the chair and ran a hand through his hair.

"So what do you think?"

"Huh?"

"What's your opinion on all this? What's your theory?"

"Oh…"

_Is this a test? This is a test, isn't it…_

"Well, I did think of something early this morning. I think it's a possibility that all four of the people took alternative ways of travel."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I don't think that any of them drove. If they did, we would've found a car somewhere. I mean, even if they biked, we would have found a bike lying around."

"It's possible the kidnapper forced their way in the car and took them in it."

The Doctor leaned forward, his elbow resting on the table and his head resting in his hand.

"Yeah, and I thought about that. When the people who lived with the missing were questioned by the police, none of them mentioned a car or even a bike. And I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't just not notice that your car- or bike- wasn't there. So, I think it's pretty safe to say that they didn't have cars at all. That means there's a really good chance that they walked to and from work."

The corners of the Doctor's lips curved into a smile.

"I think you're on to something."

Suddenly, he jumped out of his chair and was at the door in two steps. He turned back to look at me, still sitting.

"You coming?"

"Oh." I stood up. "Yeah."

He smiled wider.

"Allons-y!"


	5. Cooper

I walked quickly down the second floor balcony, my long, skinny legs covering the distance to the stairs in no time at all. Stephanie followed behind me, now jogging to keep up.

"Johnny boy, do you have access to the CCTV network?"

I called down to the floor below as I reached the stairs.

"Course I do!" he called back up to me; he and Elton must've gone downstairs while Stephanie and I were talking.

"Good, get the footage from the days of the disappearances and start looking for our missing people."

I jumped over the last two steps and went over to John at his desk.

"Doctor, we've looked through all of the footage. We didn't find anything."

"But were you looking at footage of the streets or the sidewalks?"

"Streets…why?"

"That's it- none of the missing people owned cars."

"How do you know that? The kidnapper could've taken the car too."

_Oh, why doesn't he see it? A nineteen year old girl saw it; I only asked her to see if she could!_

I went on to explain everything Stephanie had told me (and I might have added a few points of my own). By the time I finished my speech, the rest of the Torchwood team had gathered.

"Doctor, that was inspired," marveled Martha, beginning to type into a second computer. "I mean, I don't expect anything less, but it still surprises me that you see things in a total different way than everyone else."

I smiled. "Well, I can't take the credit for this one. Steph worked it all out."

All eyes turned to her and her shoulders began to slump forward slightly, embarrassed.

"You figured all of that out?" asked John, spinning around in his chair.

Her shoulders came back to their usual poised position. "Don't sound so surprised!"

"It's going to take a while to go through all of the footage," said Jack, looking up at one of the bigger computer screen as the black and white images from the street security cameras came up.

"Well then, let the waiting begin."

X.X.X

Hours passed as Gwen, Martha, John and Dad watched the several screens, waiting for the face recognition software to get a hit.

The Doctor was already given the rest of the tour: he got to see Jack's bedroom down the circular manhole in his office as well journey to the floor below and visit the interrogation rooms and holding cells (he told me he had a very nice chat with a Weevil).

Now, everyone was back sitting either on the couch or around it. The Doctor, though, was still wandering around, toying with anything he could get his hands on, and I just watched him with a smile on my face.

Then, a vibration in my pocket caused me to look down and reach for my phone.

_I wonder who that is…_

I giggled at my own sarcasm and opened the new text. On top of the message was the name of the sender: Cooper with a heart next to it.

"I need to talk to you in person," the message read.

I flipped open the keyboard and typed a response.

"Not now, we have a…guest."

A minute went by before my phone vibrated again.

"Steph, please, this could be important."

"Could be?"

"Just meet me next to water tower."

I sighed before typing again.

"When?"

"Two minutes?"

"Ok. Be out soon."

I slipped the phone back in my pocket and stood from the couch. Placing my thumbs in the belt loops of my shorts, I began to walk toward the Doctor as casually as I could (probably too casually if I'm honest). Finally, once behind the water tower where he was, I cleared my throat and the Doctor whipped around.

"Oh, Stephanie, I didn't know you were there." He threw a piece of scrap metal he was holding over his shoulder and smiled at me innocently. "What's going on?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go up to the pass with me."

"Why would I want to do that; I've seen it all before."

_Well, that was a bit rude…_

Ignoring the rudeness, I lowered my chin and gave him a look which clearly conveyed the message "take the hint, buddy."

"Oh…OH. You know what, that sounds brilliant."

I smiled. "Awesome."

I turned around and we walked back toward the others.

"Hey, so I'm going to go get some pizza," I said to them.

"Ok," said Dad, giving us a quick smile over his shoulder before looking back at the CCTV footage.

"Hey, Doctor, do you want to come with me?"

"Sure; why not?" he smiled.

I smiled as well and he started walking toward the door while I turned in the other direction.

"Doctor, this way."

His brow furrowed.

_This'll be fun…he doesn't know about it…_

"I want to show you a much cooler exit than just the door.

Now, his left eyebrow rose high onto his head as he tried to figure out what I meant.

"It's quicker."

He looked over at Jack who gave him an encouraging nod, validating that I wasn't nuts. With his brow still raised, he followed me across the Hub to a wide open space next to a work table, nothing but a large stone slab on the floor. Without hesitating, I stepped on while the Doctor stopped in front of it, eyeing me as if Jack was lying to him and I was, in fact, bonkers.

"Come on," I smiled, waving him forward.

"It's a slab," he said, skeptically.

"I know it is."

"It's just a block of concrete!"

"You of all people should know things aren't always so straight forward; now would you just get on?"

He sighed heavily, not liking not knowing.

"Alright, alright."

The Doctor stepped on next to me, his eyes fixed on the ceiling above us.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

I smiled. "Hey Jack!" I yelled across the room. "Can you send us off?"

"Sure thing!"

Then, with a press of a button on Jack's Vortex Manipulator, the cement block began to shake before finally raising off the ground, slowly taking us up to Ronald Dhal Pass.

"Whoa!" The Doctor grabbed my shoulders as he stabilized himself, and let out a loud, satisfied laugh. "It's a lift! Why didn't you just say?"

"And miss the chance of pulling a surprise on you? Come on, I couldn't let a once in a lifetime opportunity slip away!"

He laughed again and I looked up to see the metal ceiling- now just a few feet above us- begin to retract, revealing the bustling city above. With a final jolt, the lift locked into place in front of the water tower. Several groups of people walked by, none of them aware of us standing there.

"They can't see us," said the Doctor, waving his hand in front of a man staring right at us.

"Nope, and, if you think about it, you can probably figure out why too. You're pretty familiar with the technology."

He thought for a moment, his eyes falling toward our feet.

"It's a perception filter."

He looked at me and I smiled.

"No one knows how it got here?" he asked.

"Nope. And, it's only on this spot. As soon as you step off," I did as I said, "the rest of humanity can see you."

A man glared at me with wide eyes as he walked by, watching me talk to nothing.

"Interesting."

The Doctor stepped off the block, and turned back around to look at it, trying to work out in his head how the perception filter got there.

"So," he finally said, taking his concentration off the magical block of concrete, "why did we really come up here? I have a feeling you don't actually want pizza."

I looked to my left and didn't find who I was looking for, but as soon as I turned to my right, I caught sight of him and smiled.

His black hair moved slightly with the wind and his beautiful blue eyes scanned around, looking for me. He had a backpack on, one strap flung over his shoulder, wrinkling his white t-shirt.

"Cooper!"

His head snapped in our direction as I called his name and he waved at me, a smile on his face as well.

"Come on," I said over my shoulder to the Doctor as I began to walk toward Cooper.

"Hey," I smiled as I gave him a big hug.

"Hi."

He smiled as well and we kissed, having not seen each other since the morning before.

From behind me, I heard someone clear their throat, and I turned around to find the Doctor with his arms folded across his chest, looking away awkwardly.

_Right! Introductions!_

"Oh, sorry," I let go of Cooper and stood between him and the Doctor. "Cooper, this is the Doctor and Doctor, this is Cooper, my boyfriend."

"Wait a minute, the Doctor?" said Cooper, pointing up at the tall man next to me. "The Doctor from your bedtime stories?"

Cooper looked up at him in awe and wonder as if he was seeing the ghost of his dead grandmother.

"The one and the only," the Doctor smiled. "Nice to meet you, Cooper."

They shook hands.

"Wow. I thought….I really thought you weren't real."

"Sometimes I don't believe half of the things I do myself," the Doctor chuckled.

"Cooper, come on," I said, rushing their pleasantries along. "We don't have a lot of time. What did you want to tell me?"

"Right, so I'm helping write an article on the missing people…"

"You work for the newspaper?" asked the Doctor.

"Interning."

The Doctor nodded and stuffed his hands inside his jacket pockets, setting himself up to listen.

"Anyway, I thought your back alley idea was brilliant, so I got a town map and started looking at all the side streets and alley ways."

He swung his backpack to the front of his body and pulled out the town map he spoke of. He unfolded it and we all grabbed the sides so it would stay open. Four different routes outlined in four different colored Sharpies stuck out from the gray and green map, each of them starting at the work place of one of the missing and then sprawling out in their own directions around town.

"The four missing people lived in four different neighborhoods, but each one has a pathway of side streets that go from the center of Cardiff- no more than five minutes away from the work places of each person- straight into the neighborhood like a back entrance. And, I did a little math and figured out that taking these shortcuts would chop fifteen minutes off their walks to and from work. This is why the police can't find anything on the CCTV cameras."

"That's...that's brilliant!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Now we know exactly where to look!"

"Thanks."

Flattered, Copper pulled the edge of his shirt down, straightening the fabric.

"Thank you so much!" I let go of my corner of the map and gave Cooper another hug. "This is great!"

"Here, you guys can have the map." He handed it over to the Doctor. "You need it more than I do."

"Hey, guys, it was taking you so long to get the pizza, I thought maybe…"

I turned around toward the familiar voice and saw my Dad jogging up behind us.

_Oh, great…_

"Blimey, I've should've known." His smile seemed to fade when he saw Cooper (I think he was pretty disappointed with no pizza).

"Hi, Mr. Pope," said Cooper politely.

"Hello, Cooper."

"Dad, Cooper might have just given us the break we needed for this case! He figured it all out!"

"That's grea….Wait, how did he know to give it to you?"

Cooper and I grew silent and the Doctor took a step back as if to separate himself from us.

"Have you been telling him about Torchwood?"

Cooper and I looked at each other as my dad crossed his arms.

"Torchwood?" said Cooper, playing dumb. "What's Torchwood?"

_Oh, I knew I liked you for a reason…_

Dad continued to glare at me, giving me the stink eye. Sighing, I whispered in his ear, standing on my tippy toes to reach.

"I told him you were a private detective, ok? For all we know, you just blew the cover."

He continued to stare at me, now with a look of amusement.

"Whatever you say. Come on, Doctor. Let's see what Cooper came up with."

With a smile goodbye to Cooper, the Doctor left with my Dad, going back toward the lift. When they were far enough away, I turned to Cooper and hit him in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Next time, meet somewhere further away."

"Next time, think of a better excuse than going to get pizza."

I tried to hide my smile.

"If you almost give me away again, I'll ask Jack for some retcon and slip it into your drink."

"Does that mean we're going out for a drink later?" He smirked flirtatiously and pulled me closer.

"When we sort this whole thing out, we'll go out together." I brought my lips to his ear and whispered. "Then, maybe we'll go home and have some fun, too."

I pulled away and winked before turning to head back to Torchwood.

"Wait, Steph, I almost forgot!"

"What?"

I stopped and he jogged back over to me, reaching into his bag again.

"I want you to take this."

From his backpack, he pulled out a hand gun and handed it to me. It was lightweight with an orange barrel instead of a normal silver one.

_This isn't real…_

"An airsoft gun? What for?"

"Just keep it on you in case something happens; it'll make me feel better."

"What am I going to do with an airsoft gun? Shoot the bad guy with some red pellets? I can't stop him, but I can give him some big welts."

"I don't have a real one, ok? I thought this was better than nothing. Just keep it in case you need it, alright?"

"Ok, Ok. I'll keep it on me."

He smiled. "I love you."

I gave him a quick kiss. "I love you too."

With a final hug, he walked back toward the newspaper office while I, placing the gun in the back of my pants and hiding it under my shirt, jogged over to lift and went back down to the Hub.


	6. Note to Readers

Hello faithful readers!

This is just a note to all of you guys to say that I am so, so, so sorry for being so terrible at updating! I'm in my junior year of high school now and I'm completely buried under homework; finding time to write new chapters is getting very hard. But, I swear that there will be something up soon for every story. So, thank you SO much for sticking with me and following and favoriting; I promise you won't wait too much longer!

Thanks for having boat fulls of patience!

Stephanie (bakstar1996)


	7. Perfectly Intact

Following the chatter of the Torchwood Team (specifically Jack's considering his whisper is everyone else's normal speaking volume), I found them all in the conference room, Cooper's map spread out in the center of the table with everyone leaning over it.

"This is great," said John, "but we all know that there aren't any CCTV cameras in these alleys. We'll never know what happened."

"Not unless we go there ourselves and find the kidnapper."

The Doctor stood up straight and folded his arms across his chest, a small smile on his face.

_Yes! He's starting to scheme; I love when he schemes!_

"Go in there? Without knowing what we're up against? I don't know, Doctor."

"Oh, come on! You're Torchwood! You fight alien threats, protect the Earth! Don't tell me you're afraid of sitting in an alley for a few hours."

"I'm not afraid!"

John suddenly got very defensive and stood straight as well.

"Good. Is anyone else worried?"

The Doctor scanned the room and when no one argued, his smile grew.

"Brilliant. We're going to have a stakeout! I love stakeouts."

"We have to take precautions," said Jack, "because we don't know what this thing is; I'm not just sending you all out there with nothing to protect yourselves with."

"I'll go get the handguns."

Jack gave a nod to Gwen who then left the room, heading downstairs to grab everyone's piece.

"Jack."

Jack shifted his eyes to look at the Doctor whose expression had morphed from smiling and excited to serious and quite…dark.

_Oh shit…_

"You don't have to take one. I know, no weapons. But, I'm not sending my team out there unprotected. Sorry."

"Just try not to use them, alright? Don't get all trigger happy."

Jack smiled. "Will do."

With that, Jack leaned over the map again and starting scribbling down street names on a scrap of paper. I took this chance to work my way into the group, sliding in between my dad and the Doctor.

"So, how do we decide who goes where?" I asked, trying to merge myself into the adults' conversation.

"I suggest teams," said Martha, still looking at the maps. "Might as well have someone to talk to if we're going to sit out there for a few hours. Besides, it's always good to have some back up with you."

She looked up and gave a small grin to the Doctor.

"I agree with her," said Dad. "It's easier that way."

"Great," now Jack spoke up. "Gwen will go with me, Elton, you can go with Martha and John and the Doctor can go together."

"What about me?"

All of them looked up at me, and Jack sighed, his shoulders falling.

"Steph, this isn't something you can do; it's too dangerous."

"Dangerous? You're sitting in an alley!"

"Yes, and we'll possibly run into an alien that has kidnapped- and possibly killed- five people. I'm making the team take guns for a reason. I'm sorry, but you're not going."

"Oh, come on! Jack, please?"

"Steph, Jack's right. I want you to stay here; this is a job for the professionals," said Dad, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm just as good as the professionals and you know that!" I pushed his hand off of me.

"You're not coming! That's it."

I backed away from the table, the only eyes following me being the Doctor's. While he watched me, he didn't say anything- he didn't vouch for me to come, or say he was sorry; he just watched me with apologetic eyes as I backed out of the room and fled downstairs.

X.X.X

Hours had passed since everyone had left the Hub, and I was now lying my head on top of John's desk, his keyboard shoved back into the jumble of wires. The clock on the wall in Jack's office tick-tocked in my ear as I watched the hands slowly, painstakingly, work their way around.

The team had decided to head out at five like the victims, find a good hiding place and then keep an eye on the alleys until nine-thirty; if they didn't see anything, they would plant cameras and meet each other back at the rift. It was now nine-twenty-five and my leg was shaking up and down in anticipation and boredom.

_Steph, this isn't something you can do; it's too dangerous…I want you to stay here… You're not coming!_

With a burst of frustration, I pushed myself away from the desk, the chair rolling back and knocking into the couch. I rose from the chair, grabbed my backpack and before my mind had any time to think otherwise, I was leaving the Hub. A minute later, I emerged from the run down shack and ran up the incline toward the center of the pass. As I walked up to the large structure, water flowing smoothly down its surface, I could see silhouettes coming from the streets, their faces still covered by the shadows.

A few more feet and I could finally see that it was the Doctor and John, both facing each other and smiling, obviously invested in whatever they were talking about. As they got closer, they finally looked forward and saw me waiting. I waved and smiled softly.

"Steph, what are you doing out here?"

"I got bored," I said smoothly. "It's not like I followed you into the alley or anything, so you can't get mad at me."

"I never said I was!"

"Good. How was your stakeout?"

"Boring as hell, it was. We saw nothing."

"Oi, I didn't think it was so boring!" argued the Doctor. "I thought we had some fun chatting."

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant that we didn't see anyone in that alley except some rats. There was no sign of a kidnapper anywhere."

"So you guys set the camera up?"

"Yep, everything is in pla…"

John's voice trailed off as he reached into his back pocket, pulling out an important piece of cable.

"Aw, bollocks! Now I have to go back!"

"I'll go back with you if you want," said the Doctor happily.

"No, there's no point in all of us going. It'll take me a few seconds to put this in place, that's it. You can just stay here."

"If you insist."

"I'll tell Jack I'm headed back. I shouldn't be longer than ten minutes."

With that, John turned around and began to jog back to the alley, leaving the Doctor and me alone.

"So, what did you do while we were out on the hunt?" he asked me, leaning against a silver railing.

"Not much. Played some music, tried to watch some TV, slammed chairs into couches…"

"Sounds like fun." He smiled playfully and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah, exactly what a girl wants to be doing on a Friday night."

"I'm sorry that your dad wouldn't let you come with us."

"Don't be; what could you have done? When he gets like that, there's no changing his mind."

He chuckled. "I know what you mean. I have friends like that- stubborn and difficult."

"I've heard."

Before he could say anything else, Dad and Martha came out of the shadows, quickly followed by Jack and Gwen.

"Steph?" said Dad, his brow furrowing as he came up to us. "What are you doing here?"

Sighing, I gave him the response I gave John and he quickly let it go.

"So any of you guys see anything?" I asked.

"Nope," said Martha, a look of disappointment on her face.

"Nada," added Jack. "The cameras went up, so hopefully they'll see a lot more than we did."

"John had to back, right?" asked Dad. "Forgot to attach something?"

"Yeah, you would think the tech guy would be able to set up a camera."

The group chuckled.

"How long has he been gone?"

"Only a few minutes," said the Doctor. "He said he would be about ten."

"Let's wait for him," said Gwen. "My feet could use a break anyway."

Taking her suggestion, her and Martha sat down while Dad and Jack joined the Doctor on the silver railing. We waited for ten minutes, chatting casually about nothing in particular. When fifteen minutes had gone by, Jack began to look over at his tracker device every few seconds.

"Where do you think he is?" he asked as we neared twenty minutes.

"Maybe he got lost," said Dad, smirking.

"No, his tracker hasn't moved in the last few minutes."

"Maybe he's having trouble with the camera; it is really dark," suggested Gwen.  
"Let's go check it out."

"All of us?" asked Dad.

"If something happened, I want backup. Let's go."

Without another question, the team followed their captain toward the alley where John was supposed to be, each of them with their hands on their guns with the exception of the Doctor- he was clutching his sonic screwdriver.

"John? John!"

Jack yelled down the alley, the darkness not permitting us to see very much. We walked in slowly, all of us focused, walking on the balls of our feet. Then, something crunched under my foot and I leaned over to examine it.

"Guys."

Jack came over to me and his shoulders tensed at the sight of John's tracker in my hand.

"Do you think it fell off?" I asked.

"No, it would've been torn or ripped. It's perfectly intact."

"Then what happened?"


	8. Author's Note

Hey readers!

I know I've been on hiatus for a really long time, but I figured to get anything done, I need to focus on one story and finish that one before doing anything else. So, I will be working on X-Men Avatar: The Next Chapter before moving onto my other two stories. Sorry for the long wait, but school takes up a lot of time! I hope you stay with me and my stories, because I swear they will be finished eventually!

Thank you for understanding,

Stephanie :)


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